THE CONQUEST OF THE COLORADO 



145 



These sluiceways are closed by large 

 gates operated by hydraulic machinery. 

 These gates are of what is known as 

 the Stoney type, the only other gates 

 of the kind in the country being locat- 

 ed in the Chicago drainage canal. They 

 are of steel througout, and are eighteen 

 feet high and thirty-five feet wide. 



The diversion canals are taken from 

 the sides of the sluiceways above the 

 gates. The areas of the sluiceways be- 

 ing so great the movement of the wa- 

 ter toward the canals will be slow, and 

 most of the sediment will be deposited 

 before reaching the canal intakes. 

 When the silt has accumulated to a 

 considerable depth the sluicegates will 

 be opened, and the great volume of 

 water which will rush through the 

 sluiceway will carry out with it the 

 sediment deposited above the intakes 

 of the canals. As most of the silt is 

 carried near the bottom of the river 

 and the top is comparatively free from 

 sediment, the water will be taken to 

 the canals by a skimming process, over 

 a long row of gates, so the canals can 

 be filled by drawing but one foot in 

 depth of water from the surface. In 

 times of flood the Colorado River over- 

 flows its banks, inundating the country 

 for miles around, and in order to pro- 

 tect the lower lands an elaborate sys- 

 tem of levees has been built. These 

 dikes have an aggregate length of 

 seventy-five miles, and are considered 

 the most perfect ever constructed. 

 The dimensions of these embankments 

 are those which experience on the Mis- 

 sissippi River during the past sixty 

 years have proved to be the best. At 

 base they are several times as wide 

 as their height. The tops of the dikes 

 are four feet above the highest known 

 floods. The river side is protected at 

 frequent intervals by brush defences to 

 ward off the attacks of the river. 



A portion of the waters of the main 

 canal on the California side will be car- 

 ried under the Colorado River by a 

 siphon, and used for the irrigation of 

 land near Yuma in Arizona. It is ex- 

 pected that considerable power will be 

 developed here which will be used to 

 pump water to the mesa lands. The 



farmers' pump and the big scoop wheel 

 at Yuma are already furnishing water 

 to several thousand acres of bottom 

 land below Yuma. 



For months the great weir which the 

 Government is building across the riv- 

 er had been creeping out from either 

 shore, the opening between the two 

 ends gradually narrowing until only 600 

 feet remained. Two temporary rail- 

 road bridges, resting on piles driven 

 deeply into the yielding sands and silt 

 on the bottom of the river, were built 

 above the dam, and from these rock 

 was dumped by the car load until, on 

 December 2ist, the river channel was 

 completely closed and the water was 

 backed up until it flowed through the 

 sluiceways previously prepared. The 

 work of connecting the ends of the 

 core walls was immediately com- 

 menced, and it is expected that the dam 

 will be completed early in March. 



Next October it is probable that 

 17,000 acres of land in the Indian res- 

 ervation on the California side of the 

 river will be thrown open to settle- 

 ment. The date and manner of dispos- 

 ing of these lands will be announced by 

 the Secretary of the Interior through 

 the public press. The other lands, for 

 which water will be available in 1909, 

 are all in private ownership, but there 

 are many tracts of excess holdings or 

 farms whose owners do not reside in 

 the vicinity that may be purchased. 



In soil, climate, and agricultural pos- 

 sibilities the lands of the Yuma Project 

 are singularly like those in the valley 

 of the Nile. Date palms and Egyptian 

 cotton have both proven well adapted 

 to this section, and all the grains and 

 fruits of the temperate and semi- 

 tropical zones produce abundantly. 



Alfalfa yields from seven to twelve 

 tons per acre and sells at $6 to $10 

 loose in the stack. The baled hay 

 brings about $15. Yuma oranges, 

 grape fruit, cantaloupes and vegetables 

 are the first on the market, and their 

 quality is unsurpassed. On the experi- 

 ment farm the Department of Agricul- 

 ture has set out more than 200 vai ieties 

 of the date palm which were imported 

 for the purpose, and which will be 



